Bad Girl
by Lizwontcry
Summary: <html><head></head>Damon and Elena wait in the tomb for Klaus, who is determined to break the curse. Elena reveals she resents always being the good girl, and if this is their last night together, she's going to give into her forbidden emotions.</html>


**A/N - Hi! I am new to writing in this fandom but I've been so intrigued by this pairing lately and I needed to get this out of me. Concrit and reviews of all kinds is very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!**

In her dreams, she often kisses him with more passion than she'd ever known. She'd wake up gasping for air, wondering why her subconscious desired such forbidden things. Stefan was her boyfriend and he was amazing to her. Elena thought he was so strong and courageous and ethical and she thought the world of him. When he came along during a time she needed someone the most, he was her saving grace. In many ways, Elena felt she owed Stefan a piece of her; a part of her soul she didn't know existed until he came along. So why was she having these dreams about Damon? He was cold, reckless, irresponsible, childish...and he cared about her so deeply that sometimes she couldn't even breathe when he looked at her with those smoldering eyes.

Stefan knew there was something happening between the two of them; a subtle undercurrent of attraction and chemistry that was always on the surface, always simmering between the three of them, always waiting for that defining moment for it to explode. But he didn't do anything to stop it because he trusted Elena with everything he had. She knew he'd never doubt her. He'd never question her motives or second guess where she was at any particular time. While she was eternally grateful for that, it also was so exhausting sometimes. Sometimes she just wanted to act on her instincts. On her dreams. But she lived in a world where that could never happen.

When Elena woke up from the latest dream, where things happened with Damon she never even let herself ponder when she was awake, she realized she was not, in fact, in her bed. And she was not alone. And she was in trouble. Before she gathered her wits, she gasped loudly and tried not to freak out.

"Relax," said a familiar voice. "We're safe. For now." Damon. He was sitting across from her, watching her closely as he always did.

"Damon," Elena said, calming down a bit. If he was there, she'd be safe. "Where are we? What happened? The last I knew, I was in my bed, sound asleep."

"Yeah, I drugged you."

"You what?"

"I drugged the water you drank before bed. Don't worry, it was just a mild sedative."

Elena was too exhausted to get angry. He was just Damon. Drugging people before bedtime was just something he liked to do. For fun.

"Explain."

Damon sighed, but looked pretty proud of himself. Elena prepared herself for quite a story.

"You're determined to kill yourself tonight. Klaus needs you to break the curse, and I need you to stay alive. So I drugged you and brought you to the tomb. I'm the vampire he wants. You're the doppelganger he wants. He can't do anything without us."

Elena stared at him. She always knew he was somewhat insane, but this was going off the deep end.

"Are you nuts? Damon, he's going to find us. He's going to find us soon. I mean, the tomb? That's the secret place you take us to hide? This is the worst plan you've ever had, Damon. I'm not impressed."

"I just bought us some time, that's all. I figure we have about an hour."

"Where's Stefan?"

"Drugged him too. He's...somewhere. Don't worry about him; Klaus doesn't care about him."

"I care about him," Elena muttered.

Damon didn't have anything to say to that.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, pondering their future fate. Elena didn't know what was going to happen, and in some ways that was terrifying. But in the back of her soul, she also found it somewhat liberating. She was going to die tonight. Whether or not the elixir was going to bring her back or not, that wasn't up to her. Her life was in the hands of fate. After two years of constant worrying and wondering and gasping and freaking out, she was learning to just let the dust settle and worry about the aftermath. And in the event of her death, she'd no longer have to worry. Of course, Stefan would be devastated. Jenna, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline...they'd all be devastated. But maybe it was the best solution to everyone's problems. She didn't mind being that solution. Maybe she'd get to see her parents again. The thought made her grimly smile.

"What are you smiling about? Thinking about my brother and his thin, pasty lips?"

"Funny. No. I was just thinking that after tonight, this will all be over. One way or another, this will be over."

Damon shook his head. "You mean, after tonight someone will be dead and you don't even care if it's you. Why is everyone in this godforsaken town so damn stupid?"

"Maybe not. Maybe I won't die. Maybe you'll kill Klaus when he's in transition. Maybe Stefan will. Maybe we'll all die. But then it's settled and life will go on. There's something liberating about that, don't you think?"

"No." Damon said, looking bitter and angry, his normal face. "What happens if you die, Elena? What are we supposed to do then?"

"You'll move on. We'll see each other again someday. But you'll get over it eventually."

"Yeah, we really got over that Katherine thing quick, didn't we?" This made Elena smile. Damon loved when he could make her smile. It took some of the sting out of how he could never hold her the way his brother could.

They again sat in comfortable silence. Soon it would all be over. Unspoken desires hung in the air; the pink elephant in the room. Elena knew she needed to talk to Damon about something before the tomb opened and they were led to their fates. They were running out of time. It was now or never.

"Damon, I need you to tell me something."

"What, that your plan is stupid and you're going to get yourself killed? I already know that."

She sighed, annoyed. "No. Listen to me, Damon. I know you were in my room that night when you gave me my necklace back. I know you were there and I know we had some kind of conversation and I know you compelled me to forget. I want to know. Please, just tell me. Whatever it was you had to say, I want to know. It doesn't matter anymore, Damon. Just tell me."

Damon didn't react. Not that she expected him to, but some kind of reaction would have been nice.

"It's nothing you don't already know. Don't ask me to repeat it. There's no doubt in my mind that everything I said, you've figured it out all by yourself. It's not like I'm a subtle man, Elena. Don't kid yourself if you think it's some deep secret I've been hiding for 150 years."

Elena knew.

"But Damon, you don't know...you don't know how I feel."

"I know how you feel, Elena! You're not subtle, either. You've seen me at my worst. I'm despicable; I'm scum. You love my brother, you're always making sacrifices for everyone you love, including me, and you've had a pretty rough life so far. I respect you, Elena. For all that you've been through. Face it: you're a good person. And you always will be, and there's no reason to get distracted by the likes of me. I'd only taint your goodness."

"What if..."

Damon looked interested. "What if..."

"What if I'm getting tired of always being so good? What if I'm getting tired of always doing the right thing? Of sacrificing myself for everyone else? Damon, what if I went for what I really wanted when I wanted it, even knowing that it would be wrong and it would hurt others?"

"What are we talking about here? Stop talking in riddles, Elena. Speak what's on your mind. No matter what, I won't judge you. We're way past that at this point."

Elena scooted closer to Damon and looked him in the eye. He looked nervous, which made her nervous, yet excited in some strange, primal way. She took his hand, stroked it a little, watched him watch her, watched the intensity of his eyes grow stronger.

"You're a good person too, Damon. You do bad things but you have a good heart. The way you're always trying to protect me, the way you will do anything to keep me safe...I can't express how much I appreciate the way you care about me."

"But..." Damon said, waiting for the bad news.

"No buts," she said softly. "No buts tonight. If we live through this night, we can deal with it tomorrow. But tonight, I want you to know that I feel the same way. Maybe not at first, and maybe not all the time, but sometimes I look at you and I resent Stefan. I get tired of doing the right thing. I get tired of choosing the safe choice; the safe guy."

"You're just confused," Damon whispered. "You're facing your mortality. You've been through so much. Don't stop being strong now. Stefan loves you. He would do anything for you. Don't do something you'll regret."

"I'm not confused. I know what I want."

"Elena. We have, like, 5 minutes until Klaus figures out my not-so-brilliant hiding place. If you want something, just tell me what it is."

"You're not making this easy for me, are you?" She said softly.

He smiled sadly. "I just don't want to hurt you again," he said. "I can't hurt you again."

Elena knew she was going to have to make this happen. She paused for a moment to think about the choice she was making. Of course she loved Stefan. But she had a chemical connection to Damon that she couldn't ignore forever. And if forever was the next 15 minutes, well, she had to know.

"I have to know," she said, moving closer to him. Their shoulders were touching now. She didn't let go of his hand.

"What? Tell me, Elena. What do you have to know?"

"What you taste like," she said. Before he had a chance to react, she found his lips. He wasn't surprised or disoriented or confused. Damon knew what to do.

Something shifted in the atmosphere when they kissed. It was a small change but a permanent one. Nothing would be the same in the universe again, now that the doppelganger and the vampire had connected the way the fates always planned. Whatever was happening outside of the kiss, however, was of no interest to the two of them. All that mattered was this kiss, this fire, this choice.

Damon held her close to him, grabbing her hair, biting her lip, consuming her soul. Kissing Stefan was nothing to complain about, but kissing Damon was like something out of a romance novel. She never wanted it to end. His lips were like the answer to the question she'd never thought to ask. A missing piece of the puzzle.

"I love you," Damon whispered when they came up for breath. "I know you can't love me the way you love Stefan and that's okay. I love you. I just need you to know that."

"I love you too," she said, and they kissed again, fiercely, passionately, consuming each other, making it last, creating a memory they never wanted to forget. "It's not the love I have for Stefan, and it's not a platonic love, either," she said, barely able to remember how to form words, but trying as hard as she could. "It doesn't matter. I love you. Just know that. Always know that."

The kissing continued until their lips were raw. Hands roamed around bodies for exploration, but that was not the ultimate goal that night. Maybe someday if they were trapped again, they could go down that road. This night was for kissing. It was more innocent, in a way, while being more dangerous at the same time.

They finally heard a rumbling outside and disconnected themselves from each other's lips.

"This is it," Elena said. "Whatever happens, Damon..."

"We'll be together, tonight."

"And we'll always have tonight. I won't forget. I'll never forget."

"I am pretty unforgettable," Damon said, trying to lighten the mood before their almost inevitable deaths.

Elena laughed and punched him in the arm. As the doors of the tomb opened, he held her against him one more time and shared one last meaningful kiss.

The tomb door shattered and flames burst inside, just nearly missing Elena and Damon. Leave it to Klaus to make such a dramatic entrance. He strolled in, looking proud of himself, and said, "Well, sorry to break up the party! I must have interrupted something special here. We'll have to talk about that later. Now, let's get started, shall we?"

Without looking at him, Elena took Damon's hand. He gripped it and squeezed hard. Together, they stepped out into the unknown, ready to tempt fate together.


End file.
